Under $125K, send your kid to public university free.

[lonestarnot]

Yeah.

[Rex]

1. Sounds good.

Would help the majority of people.

[lonestarnot]

2. Yep. Haven't heard relief for recent graduates already saddled with horrendous debt.

[Rex]

3. Rates are prohibitive, I have no idea how folks can manage college.

I had the GI bill and that paid for 2 years.

[lonestarnot]

4. Not easy. Requires support.

[BlueMTexpat]

18. I just heard from a friend who said that her

son had just received a notification stating that the interest due on his student loan(s) had been greatly reduced, from the stated 6% to less than 2%. This is only anecdotal and I can't seem to find any links as to what might have happened. Perhaps it's merely a factor of interest rates generally being reduced. ???

In any event, there are already programs where student debt can be forgiven. http://www.studentdebtrelief.us/ If Dems win the Presidency, and down-ticket races in November, I am sure that more such will be on the way.

[white_wolf]

5. Is this part of Clinton's platform?

I know she mentioned a plan like this in the primaries, but I haven't your specifics.

[lonestarnot]

6. Yes Bernie was talking about it tonight with Chris Hayes. I think it was Hayes.

[rufus dog]

7. not overwhelmingly behind this

SS works because everyone gets it, no means testing, which means you don't pit the haves vs have nots. So a couple in CA or NYC making 150k gets nothing while a couple in Kentucky with a husband making 125k and a stay at home Mom gets free college.

Better than the current situation, but open to a great deal of criticism, in potential Dem strongholds like CA, Seattle, NYC, Boston, etc.

[lonestarnot]

8. No, I heard Hillary say that she would not allow families who could afford get in free.

[rufus dog]

9. That is the problem, define afford

Two income family in LA or SF making 130k with a $3,500 mortgage versus a single income family in Joplin, MO making 120k with a $750 mortgage.

It is better than current state, but the genius behind the Bernie plan, and the FDR SS plan was everyone gets it. So in the future it makes it harder to get rid of, or erode.

[PoliticalMalcontent]

11. Makes sense to me.

If it's something everyone gets then people won't feel like it's only being had by a select few, therefore it's less likely to cause derision.

Strange as it may seem we live in a society where people who are 'rich' by my standards feel the crunch because they're trying to keep up with the Joneses or whatnot. It makes for a very complicated societal structure.

I don't think there's a way to keep everyone happy, but listening to other opinions without shouting them down or making them feel like they're being ignored/marginalized is a good start.

Thanks for your thoughts.

[rufus dog]

16. I wish I had thought of this

Credit goes to the FDR administration. They figured out how to put a social plan together that would be difficult to dismantle. Kudos to those with great foresight.

Under this current plan, I would have easily qualified for free college, but my kids wouldn't. So people like me would have thought, great deal, I got free college and made money to cover my kids, now others get the same benefits I received.

Problem is, I am a Liberal and can see the big picture. A conservative would take the free education and then bitch up a storm that his/her offspring are getting screwed paying for some "other" to get an education. So you just need a few selfish dems to align with the conservatives to begin eroding and dismantling the program.

[lonestarnot]

13. Bernie's theory also works in that richie richers won't do the work and graduate, or they will cheat

or buy their diplomas anyway.

[ReasonableToo]

15. Agree

I'd rather see a small tuition for public such that a student could work 5-10 hrs/week at minimum wage and pay as go. Families that can save all through kids life can pay a good chunk of it by time kids starts college

Society pays part for the public good and recipient pays part.

Free tuition will lead to more adjunct professor problems.

(This is one area where I disagree with Bernie a bit. )

[KeepItReal]

12. Yeah, no "Trump kids getting free tuition" was the line

As if $80K (the threshold year 1 of implementation) is Trump money.

I'm glad Sec. Clinton did change her stance. This is better than her original plan.

[Bluenorthwest]

20. Define families. I get sick of this. Straight Chritians throw their LGBT kids to the streets but

Faith Community politicians demand they be in change of those young people anyway? They define these kids by the parents who hate them.

[roamer65]

10. How will it be funded? N/t

[lonestarnot]

14. Close loopholes on richie rich and make 'im pay his fair share. Done. Easy. Raise 'is fucking tax

es, just like cali when she got rid of Arnold and his deficit. They are now back in the green and have a rainy day fund because liberals rule bitches!

[SheilaT]

17. We need to start with debt forgiveness.

And we need to move very quickly to making tuition itself much lower. Not connected to parents' income. Although I must say that since $125k is well above the median in this country, I'm somewhat astonished to what extent a lot of people seem to think that we should feel terribly sorry for those who have that much income and apparently spend every penny and can't possibly afford college tuition.

Whew! That's off my shoulder. The essential thing is this: Public colleges and universities should be free or very close to free. But I will say that one huge problem in this country with student debt is that too many students and their parents just don't do their homework, don't find out exactly what is involved with their student loans, who choose to major in something for which there are few or no jobs, and then are shocked, just shocked that they have that debt and no good job prospects.

For at least twenty years now I've been telling young people to go ahead and major in what they love. But keep in mind that after college they are going to need to make a living.

My son majored in psychology in college, and I suggested he add a minor that would be somewhat practical, so he minored in marketing. Excellent combination. Should lead to lots of jobs. After college (and I must brag that he graduated cum laude) he went back to his summer job of pizza delivery. Sigh. But he loves the job, supports himself (he knows that were he to ask for money from either parent [we're divorced] we'd say "Get a better job) and has the free time to do the things he likes, such as playing Ultimate Frisbee. Recently he went from pizza delivery to delivering for a local catering firm in his city, and loves that also.

I know he didn't need a college degree for the delivery jobs. Luckily he has no college debt, thanks to generous grandparents who helped fund his schooling. But without them, I'd have had him attend the local junior college, then an in-state public school to finish up. Which is exactly what more students should do. They have choices. They can investigate what school will cost, and what the alternatives are.

But I will come back to saying that college should be free or very close to free.

And don't get me started on the cost of medical school.

[Ex Lurker]

19. or send your kid to trade school and learn something useful

A lot of people aren't cut out for college, and I would argue that a lot of people going to college now would be much better off going through a trade school or apprenticeship program, and be earning money after six months instead of going to school for four years for something that may or may not have an economic benefit.

To be clear, free college is a great idea, for people who have a clear goal that requires a college degree. If it means a lot of kids go to college because "why not, it's free, and I don't have anything else to do," not so much. And there should be clear guidelines about academic progress, and especially make sure the lobbyists don't make fly by night private schools part of the deal, like they have with student loans.